RESPONSE OF THE
SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE
SERVICE
TO
CONCERNS RAISED
DURING THE PUBLIC
HEARINGS
OBLIGATIONS ON THE
POLICE
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Police must render assistance to the victim to  find suitable shelter;
 obtain medical treatment; and
 make a decision on the remedies at his or her
disposal.
Accompany victim to collect personal property
Record keeping (eg Domestic Violence Register)
POWERS OF THE POLICE:
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
A police officials has the power to  arrest the respondent;
 seize weapons;
 serve protection orders; and
 enforce protection orders.
ISSUES RAISED DURING
PUBLIC HEARINGS
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Non-compliance with obligations in terms of the Act and
National Instruction
Failure to serve protection orders
Failure to arrest
Domestic Violence should be reportable crime
Seizure of firearms
Return of FSC Units
Role of female members to assist victims
Privacy of victims should be respected at stations
Role of CPF
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH
THE ACT
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Section 18(4) provides that a failure by a
member to comply with an obligation imposed
in terms of the Act or the national instruction,
constitutes misconduct and the ICD must
forthwith be informed thereof
Any reported failure is investigated
If valid - disciplinary steps are taken
ONLY the ICD may grant exemption from
disciplinary steps
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE
ACT (Cont)
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Compliance by members is continuously
monitored by –
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station management
inspectorates at provincial and national level
Auditor General performance audit
New members are guided by Field
Training Officers and receive continuous
in-service training
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE
ACT (Cont)
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Non-compliance is addressed by –
 providing directives, information and
awareness material on an ongoing basis;
 appropriate disciplinary action; and
 continuous in-service training.
If station is found not to comply with Act,
remedial steps are taken on the spot and
reported to management to follow up to ensure
compliance
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE
ACT (Cont)
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Statistics on non-compliance by members
are collated on a monthly basis from
stations and submitted to provincial
offices, and then to the national office
Figures of non-compliance fluctuate. In
current financial year, the national office
visited 45 stations in all 9 provinces to
establish the level of compliance. Noncompliance was only found at 10 stations
FAILURE TO SERVE
PROTECTION ORDER
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This issue arises from the misperception
that only members may serve protection
orders
Section 13 provides that a protection order
must be served either by the clerk of the
court, a sheriff or a peace officer
Police should only be utilized in cases
where the victim is in danger of imminent
harm
FAILURE TO ARREST
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This issue arises from the misperception that members
MUST arrest in certain circumstances (eg if a protection
order is contravened)
If a protection order is contravened, the police may ONLY
arrest the respondent if the member is of the opinion that the
victim may suffer imminent harm if the perpetrator is not
arrested
There is NO DUTY on police to arrest. A member has a
discretion and must be satisfied that the victim is in danger of
imminent harm before deciding to arrest
Community insists that members must arrest, even where
the victim is not in danger of imminent harm, resulting in –
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civil claims against police for wrongful arrest; and
loss of income of breadwinner and the family suffering.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
REPORTABLE CRIME?
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Domestic violence is NOT a crime
Only certain forms of domestic violence
constitute crimes (eg murder, rape,
assault, etc)
All incidents of DV are recorded in
domestic violence registers while crimes
are registered on Crime Administration
System
SEIZURE OF FIREARMS
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Police are empowered to seize firearms 
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if respondent threatened to kill / injure anyone
by means of firearm / dangerous weapon; or
because of mental condition of respondent,
his inclination to violence or dependence on
substance with intoxicating or narcotic effect.
This is followed by an inquiry to determine
fitness of the respondent to possess a
firearm (sec 102 of Firearms Control Act)
A protection order may authorize the
Police to seize firearms
RE-INTRODUCTION OF
FCS UNITS
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Policy decision was taken to
re-introduce FCS Units
This decision is currently being
implemented and involves the selection,
training and transfer of members
ROLE OF FEMALE MEMBERS
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There is not enough female members to
make a female member available at
every station to attend to every victim
of domestic violence
A policy decision was taken to recruit
more female members and this is in the
process of being implemented
PRIVACY OF VICTIMS AT
POLICE STATIONS
Building plans for new police stations
provide for areas where victims can
be attended to in private
 As far as may be possible within the
available funds, similar areas are
created during the upgrading of
existing stations
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ROLE OF CPF’s
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Police team up with CPF’s to raise
awareness in the community about 
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the plight of victims of gender based violence
assistance that victims of domestic violence
may expect from the police
CPF’s liaise with, and mobilize the
community and community based
organizations to assist victims of domestic
violence by providing shelter, counsellingand other support services
CHALLENGES: PROPOSED
LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS
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Different protection orders are issued that are in
direct conflict with one another because the
magistrate is unaware of existing orders.
Members are placed in an untenable position
and are expected to enforce contradictory orders
Proposal: All protection orders issued for or
against a complainant should be presented to
the magistrate before a protection order may be
issued
CHALLENGES: PROPOSED
LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS (Cont)
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Disputes arise on what qualifies as
“personal property” and the ownership
of the property
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Members are not in a position to adjudicate
on such disputes
Members expose themselves to criminal
charges if they mistakenly permit property to
be taken by the complainant
Proposal: Court to determine and specify
personal property that should be collected
CHALLENGES: PROPOSED
LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS (Cont)

Magistrates directing police to serve all
protection orders
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This sometimes result in police vehicles being
permanently engaged serving orders and
being unavailable to perform policing
functions
Proposal: Clear delineation of
circumstances in which the Police must
serve a protection order.
CHALLENGES: PROPOSED
LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS (Cont)
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No determined period of validity of
protection order
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Protection orders remain permanently in force even
though the issue that gave rise to the application for
the order may have been resolved and the
complainant has lost the documents. The
complainant cannot remember at which police station
the order was lodged, but request enforcement of the
order
Proposal: The period of validity of a protection
order should be limited (eg 3 yrs), complainants
may then request renewal upon expiry, if still
required.
CHALLENGES: PROPOSED
LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS (Cont)
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Discretionary power of member to arrest
upon contravention of protection order
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The discretion is too wide and create expectations
that cannot be fulfilled
Proposal: Limit discretionary power to
arrest by providing clear conditions before
an arrest may be made
CHALLENGES FOR THE POLICE
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Lack of shelters